Milton Bradley in the Offseason?

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Bradley is looking for a long-term deal.

 

Link.

 

He's still injury prone, but while healthy this season he hit 320/437/570. Even in Texas, that's nice production.

 

If the Cubs could get Bradley, we could pencil him into rightfield. Kosuke could play CF in a platoon with Reed, assuming Edmonds isn't brought back. Under that scenario, I'd hang on to Pie and work him into the line-up regularly, as Bradley will miss time. When Bradley doesn't play, Pie could work into CF with Fukudome sliding back to RF. This alignment also could be used late in a game for defense.

 

Thoughts?

[shnsajax]

I am 100% behind this. He is perfect for what worked very well with the Cubs all season. I would give him the same deal Fuku got.

[CubColtPacer]

Bradley is a good bet to miss half the season in year 1 and possibly more in the years after that. He has struggled staying healthy this year even while playing DH most of the time and had significant injuries playing the field for 3 years before that. He's been in the league 9 years and he's played even 130 games exactly once. He's played in less than 100 games 6 of those years.

 

He has a huge home/away split this year and would probably be closer to a .900 OPS hitter in Chicago than a 1.000 (that's what his away splits would tend to indicate over the last 5 years).

 

Then you add in the defense factor, which is questionable with all the leg problems and will probably progressively get worse.

 

Let's say you give him 50 million over 4 years. Is getting 2 1/2 seasons of at-bats in those 4 years at a .900 OPS and quickly declining defense worth 50 million?

[anabiono]

no no and no

 

too much risk

 

pie is going to be solid next season and kosuke is going to come along starting this postseason

 

:pig:

[evv98]

Milton Bradley wouldn't be bad for a year or two, at the right price. I just think he will be too expensive for too many years to make it worthwhile.

 

Pass.

[Jehrico]

Even if Bradley gets hurt, Kosuke can back up RF while Reed/Pie plays CF. Plenty of good oportunities to keep guys fresh while not losing too much when your A lineup isn't out there. I like it from that perspective. I don't like it from a playing time perspective for Pie, he either needs to play everyday for at least half a season to see if he can adjust to this level, or he needs to be traded. I prefer the former.

[Derwood]

some GM will give him 4/$40M and let's hope it's not ours

[wade]

Well, the Tigers will be looking for salary relief this winter and should be interested in getting out from under Magglio's contract (something like 3 more years at 48 million). That's steep as hell, but I don't think he'd cost much in terms of prospects - or you maybe you could get some kickback in money from the Tigers if you gave up some talent. He's also OPSing around 900 the past couple of years with not much injury time missed.

 

I don't know, just throwing it out there.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Well, the Tigers will be looking for salary relief this winter and should be interested in getting out from under Magglio's contract (something like 3 more years at 48 million). That's steep as hell, but I don't think he'd cost much in terms of prospects - or you maybe you could get some kickback in money from the Tigers if you gave up some talent. He's also OPSing around 900 the past couple of years with not much injury time missed.

 

I don't know, just throwing it out there.

 

Magglio would be an interesting option if he could be had cheaply. I'd prefer to throw a better prospect and hope the Tigers would throw back some cash.

[evv98]

Well, the Tigers will be looking for salary relief this winter and should be interested in getting out from under Magglio's contract (something like 3 more years at 48 million). That's steep as hell, but I don't think he'd cost much in terms of prospects - or you maybe you could get some kickback in money from the Tigers if you gave up some talent. He's also OPSing around 900 the past couple of years with not much injury time missed.

 

I don't know, just throwing it out there.

 

Magglio would be an interesting option if he could be had cheaply. I'd prefer to throw a better prospect and hope the Tigers would throw back some cash.

 

This is a common theme when talking trade, but who do the Cubs have as a better prospect that would interest the Tigers? Also, would getting rid of that prospect be worth a player who will most likely not be worth his salary by the last year of that contract?

[Clem Fandango]

As someone already said, even as a DH he still can't avoid getting injured. I don't dig that.

 

At least not at the price he'd likely command. I'd love to have him otherwise but he's not gonna be cheap, I think that's money that could be better used elsewhere, such as resigning Dempster and Wood and perhaps finding a good replacement for Howry (even though any reliever is better than him at this point).

 

Otherwise the only move I'd like to see is an attempt to trade Ted Lilly. His salary is getting bumped up to $12 mil this year so it may be difficult to get much in return, but it'd be nice to clear some money off the books for other expenses, maybe try and get a prospect 1B to replace Lee in a couple years (I have a minor league baseball man-crush on Beau Mills, though that won't happen).

 

I don't know, just throwing out the idea. Otherwise, I think we should stay clear of Bradley. Great player, amazing talent, horrible horrible injury history at what will likely be a big cost

[YearofDaCubs]

I've wanted him on this team for quite some time but don't count on it. Hendry had many opportunities to pick him up but didn't.

[SweetZombieJesus]

I've wanted him on this team for quite some time but don't count on it. Hendry had many opportunities to pick him up but didn't.

 

Plus Hendry has done everything in his power to purge of guys who could be seen as unlikeable.

[DiamondMind]

He can't DH for us, injury risk, Pie.

[nilodnayr]

A better version of Bradley would be Chipper Jones. Doesn't look like the Braves are going to pick up his option. We'd have convince him to move back to the OF, but a really good shot at a WS might do that.

[wade]

Well, the Tigers will be looking for salary relief this winter and should be interested in getting out from under Magglio's contract (something like 3 more years at 48 million). That's steep as hell, but I don't think he'd cost much in terms of prospects - or you maybe you could get some kickback in money from the Tigers if you gave up some talent. He's also OPSing around 900 the past couple of years with not much injury time missed.

 

I don't know, just throwing it out there.

 

Magglio would be an interesting option if he could be had cheaply. I'd prefer to throw a better prospect and hope the Tigers would throw back some cash.

 

This is a common theme when talking trade, but who do the Cubs have as a better prospect that would interest the Tigers? Also, would getting rid of that prospect be worth a player who will most likely not be worth his salary by the last year of that contract?

 

The Tigers need bullpen help, maybe a good reliever or two would interest them.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

A better version of Bradley would be Chipper Jones. Doesn't look like the Braves are going to pick up his option. We'd have convince him to move back to the OF, but a really good shot at a WS might do that.

I think Chipper will stay with the Braves. While they may decline the option, I believe they will work out a deal to keep him in Atlanta.

[nilodnayr]

A better version of Bradley would be Chipper Jones. Doesn't look like the Braves are going to pick up his option. We'd have convince him to move back to the OF, but a really good shot at a WS might do that.

I think Chipper will stay with the Braves. While they may decline the option, I believe they will work out a deal to keep him in Atlanta.

 

Granted he has reworked his current deal to save the Braves a TON of money, everything that is coming out pretty much leads one to believe that it ain't gonna happen this time around.

 

GQ's Chipper Jones Article

By Tim Dierkes [september 19 at 3:32pm CST]

Nate Penn of GQ wrote an interesting article on Braves third baseman Chipper Jones. Some highlights:

 

Interesting quote regarding tipping pitches: "I would say if you face seven pitchers in a week, four to five of them are doing something that gives them away." Jones says he owned Shane Reynolds for ten years for this reason.

John Schuerholz treated the subject of re-signing Jones after '09 delicately. One telling quote: "The reality of our business begs that we recognize the fact that it would be a really unusual development if he were to remain here."

Chipper wants to play two to four more years, whether in Atlanta or elsewhere.

[BigbadB]

I don't believe Bradley will be getting a long term deal. No team is going to gamble that kind of money on someone that is hurt as much as he is.

 

He's a great player when he's healthy, but how often is he actually healthy? Never?

[Banedon]

I love the talent, but if Soriano is gonna be injured for part of each season (like he has been so far with us), I'd rather not have another key hitter be injury prone.

 

A major, major reason that we are where we are today, is because we were pretty healthy this season. Outside of a Z stint on the DL, and a Soriano stint on the DL, I don't think we had any "big names" go down.

[MasterBlaster]

I kind of think the Reds will be trying to grab Bradley this offseason, along with Ivan Rodriguez. They've managed to dump some salary, and Dusty needs a few more veterans on that young team. IMO. That's if Dusty keeps his job.

[Mephistopheles]

Bradley will be turning 31 net season. While he's a tremendous player, he comes with a lot of baggage. His outfield range is going to diminish to the point where he will no longer be able to play centerfield at a decent level (though he won't be as bad as Edmonds). He has enough arm strength to play right, but how long will the bat be there? He's going to command a pretty large contract, and I don't think we are in a position to shell out another large contract to a third corner outfielder.

 

In the coming market, I'd rather see us set our eyes on getting another pitcher while letting Dempster go.

[cbbryan]

Unless the NL adopts the DH I can't see the Cubs going after him.

[NewUserName]

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[Guest]

He would be RonDl White v2.0.